Bottom snagging sinkers are old and well known in the art and comprise a lead weight, a nose cone and several sets of wires that embed in mud or sand at the bottom of a body of water. A leader attaches to the sinker and carries one or more baited hooks or lures. When the fisherman desires to retrieve the fishing rig, he applies enough force to free the anchor wires from the bottom.
There are two types of wired sinkers, one with fixed wires that have to be released from the bottom by straightening the wires as exemplified by Great Britain Patent 2,252,484 or the newer version which has rotating wires clipped into slots as exemplified by Great Britain Patents 2,203,621; 2,242,602; and 2,418,121. When tension is applied to the fishing line, the wires bend or rotate thereby releasing the sinker from the bottom. Both type sinkers have been commercially available for many years. The newer type sinker is difficult to make because the rotating wires have to be placed into the sinker at the time of manufacture but has the advantage of requiring less force to release the sinker from the bottom and can easily be reused simply by rotating the wires back into their original position.